Kindling-wood



(NoModell) W. F. HUTGHINSON.

- KINDLING WOOD. No. 518,247.

Patented Apr. 17, 1894.

9 5 INVENTOI? WITNESSES: d

i/W 5m UNITED ST TES PATENT FFICE.

WILLIAM F. HUTOHINS ON, OF PASSAIO, NEW JERSEY.

KlNDLlNG-WOOD.

SPECIFICATION forming art Of Letters Patent NO. 518,247, dated April17,1894.

Application filed August 13,1892. Serial No. 442,951. (No specimens.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. HUTCHIN- SON, of Passaic, in the countyof Passaic and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Kindling- Wood or Fire-Lighters, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

Kindling wood, such as is put upon the market in bundles, ismanufactured either by sawing a log or stick into blocks and thensplitting the blocks, or by sawing logs or slabs of wood into longnarrow lengths and then sawing such lengths transversely into blocks ofthe required dimensions. When the former method is used the blocks ofkindling wood vary greatly in size, and the blocks at one end are liableto be much larger than at the opposite end. Where the second process isused the same trouble arises, but to a lesser extent, the difference inthe sizes of the blocks being occasioned by the variations and knots onthe outer surface of the wood. Moreover, in sawing, a great dealof woodis wasted by the saw kerf. Where blocks of unequal dimensions and withends of differentsizes are bundled, a great loss is occasioned to theproducer by the fact, owing to the unequal sizes of the blocks, that thebundles slip from the ties and the wood has to be rebundled.

The object of my invention is to overcome the difficulties mentioned,which is done by preparing the wood from strips or ribbons of veneer ofuniform thickness, the width of the strips corresponding to the lengthof the blocks of kindling wood. In this way the blocks are made of auniform size and especially of uniform thickness, so that when oncetightly bundled they cannot work loose. Moreover, no waste is occasionedby a saw kerf, and as the blocks are of a uniform size the wood may beautomatically dried and bundled; that is, passed through machines fordrying and bundling, and this result cannot be obtained with the unequalblocks manufactured in the usual way.

To these ends my invention consists of a fire lighter or kindling woodconstructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying before it is formed into abundle and after it has been cut or scored; and Fig.3 is a perspectiveview of a strip of veneer after being cut or scored,'the strip beingstretched out fiatwise to show the scores more clearly.

In manufacturing my improved fire lighter or kindling wood, strips ofveneer 10 are turned from a log in the usual well known way, thesestrips having their width made to correspond with the length of theindividual blocks of kindling wood, and the thickness of the veneercorresponds, of course, with the thickness of the kindling wood. Thestrip is then scored deeply at equidistances apart, as shown at 11 thesecuts or scores being made transversely and extending nearly through thewood, but leaving suflEicient material to cause the blocks 11, formedbetween the incisions, to hang together, but the blocks should not hangtogether so firmly as to prevent them from being readily torn apart byhand. It will be seen then that any necessary amount of kindlingmaterial may be torn from the strip and the fibrous edges of the blocksmake them kindle readily.

The incisions may be made in the strip 10 in any convenient way, a goodmethod being to run them through a rotary cutting machine which has theknives arranged so as to out not quite through the veneer. The strip,after being prepared as described, may be rolled up and pressed into afirm bundle, as shown in Fig. 1, and the bundle held together by asuitable tie 12.

It will be observed that a fire lighter or 0 kindling wood constructedas described overcomes the difficulties mentioned above, as the materialmay be easily handled and when bundled does not fall apart, even thoughit be roughly handled. I

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent-- A fire kindler consisting of a thin rectanbeingequidistant apart so that the said block gnlar block or strip of veneer,havingalength or strip can readily be divided by hand, subsufficient toafiord division into a number of stantially as described.

blocks of corresponding size, said. block or VILLIAM F. HUTCHINSON. 5strip being scored or cut transversely of its \Vitnesses:

length and nearly through, but leaving the WARREN 13. HU'IGHINSON,

adjacent edges of the blocks uncut, the scores EDGAR TATE.

